The BTSC Delorean: Looking back at the most memorable Steelers vs. Browns contests

The most memorable Steelers home game vs. the Cleveland Browns.

Do the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers have a long and storied history? Absolutely. The rivalry dates back to 1950 and started off 32-9 in favor of the Browns in the first 20 years. But since 1970, Pittsburgh has dominated the series 70-30-1. Despite the recent success of the Men of Steel, the Browns continue to be a challenge to the Steelers every single season. This week, BTSC only takes a look at the games that took place in Cleveland.

Here’s a brief tale of the tape:

Points: Steelers 2,967, Browns 2,748

Wins: Steelers 79, Browns 62

Home Record: Steelers 50-22, Browns 40-29

Shutouts: 9 (Steelers 5, Browns 4)

Steelers 31, Browns 0 (12/28/2008), Steelers 41, Browns 0 (12/24/2005), Steelers 43, Browns 0 (9/12/1999), Steelers 35, Browns 0 (12/23/1990), Browns 51, Steelers 0 (9/10/1989), Steelers 30, Browns 0 (12/3/1972), Browns 24, Steelers 0 (11/10/1957), Browns 28, Steelers 0 (12/9/1951), Browns 17, Steelers 0 (10/21/1951)

Biggest Win Margin: 9/10/1989 – Browns 51, Steelers 0

Closest Game: 09/09/2018 – Steelers 21, Browns 21

Overtime Games: 7 – Steelers 5, Browns 1, 1 Tie

Postseason Record: Steelers 2, Browns 1

September 24, 1978 Steelers 15, Browns 9 (OT)

Joe Greene threw a bash for his 32nd birthday and at least 50K of his closest friends came by in hopes of seeing No. 75 and his teammates blow out the Cleveland. Sam Rutugliano’s Browns, in turn, were hoping to halt the dreaded “Three Rivers Jinx” after losing their first eight games there, For a contest that only had one trip to the end zone on the final play of the game, this 1978 classic played at the confluence had quite a few draw-dropping moments.

The quarterbacks, Brian Sipe and Terry Bradshaw, were two of the best gunslingers of the late 70s. But on this day, neither No. 17 or No. 12, were on their respective games. Sipe (14/32 for 139 yards) was sacked 5 times, throwing two interceptions Bradshaw (with an identical line of 14/32 threw for 208 yards)was sacked only once and threw two interceptions, both thieved by Thom Darden.

The party started on the very first play of the contest when Sipe slipped to the turf upon dropping back to pass, got back up, threw errantly and was intercepted by Donnie Shell. After a Bradshaw strike to Lynn Swann moved the chains inside the 5, the Browns clamped down and Roy Gerela converted a 19-yard field goal for the early 3-0 lead. But Sipe’s offense stormed back and tied it with a Don Cockroft field goal of 43 yards with 6:32 remaining in the first. On the ensuing kickoff, Larry Anderson fumbled the ball away to Ron Bolton. But a 30-yard field goal by Cockroft was all that the Browns could muster for a 6-3 advantage after Jack Lambert’s sack of Sipe.

In the second half, it appeared that the black and gold would tie the game, but Roy Gerela’s attempt went wide and the game continued to be dominated by defense as Darden’s thefts of Bradshaw, the Steelers sackfest of Sipe and hard hits from both squads kept both teams out of the end zone in regulation. When Dwight White’s second sack put the brakes on another Cleveland possession, Cockroft’s 41-yarder right up the middle made the score 9-3 in the third. The remainder of the quarter, Steelers offensive weapons like Franco Harris, Swann, Stallworth, and C unningham led to another Gerela field goal to start the fourh. Then Head Coach Chuck Noll caught the Browns and his own fans off guard with trickery. Gerela’s onside kick was recovered by Mel Blount. Another Gerela field goal late, tied the game with with 2:35 left. The Steelers defense forced a punt and looked to march down the field for the game-winner, but Darden intercepted Brad for a second time giving the visitors a chance to seal the win with 1:08 and all three timeouts left. But a possessed Jack Lambert knocked Greg Pruitt back for a huge loss to knock the Browns out of field goal range. It was Hail Mary time as Sipe launched one in the end zone, but Tony Dungy picked it off and set course for the end zone, only to be tripped up after a 63-yard return.

In overtime, the jinx zapped Cleveland once more, as Larry Anderson’s stumble almost became a back-breaking bumble when he fell untouched, recovered and fumbled allowing the Browns to recover. The Cleveland offense seemingly had a chance to ice it, but the officials inexplicably ruled Anderson down by contact. Was it a birthday gift to Greene received by the entire team? If it was, they cashed it in with the play known as fake 84 reverse-gadget pass or “High School Right”. The infamous “flea-flicker” game ended in celebration as TB12 handed off to Rocky Bleier, who handed the rock off to Swann, who pitched the ball back to Bradshaw, who then threw deep to an all-alone Bennie Cunningham for the game-winning touchdown from 37-yards out.

As sweet as the Steelers 15-9 victory was, it probably wouldn’t have occured in this day and age. Jack Lambert committed 4 personal fouls, the Anderson non-fumble would have been overturned and Swann, despite a fantastic game, would have ended up in the blue tent and probably not allowed to return after getting absolutely blasted by Bolton. But we’ll take it as the Steelers climbed to 4-0 on the year and on their way to a Super Bowl victory to conclude the 1978 season.

November 25, 1979 – Steelers 33, Browns 30 (OT)

It seems that the Steelers have always played in highly-competitive divisions. Going in to Week 13 of the 16-game 1979 season, the Houston Oilers and Pittsburgh Steelers entered at 9-3, while the Browns were in the mix at 8-4. By getting destroyed by the San Diego Chargers the week before and with Houston’s Thanksgiving Day win, the Steelers were in danger of falling into a second-place tie with the Browns should they have fallen to Cleveland. The scene was set for a barnburner at Three Rivers Stadium with so much riding on it.

The Steelers kicked off to Dino Hall to start the ball game and the Browns, behind Brian Sipe, would be on the move from thave get-go. Sipe moved the chains right away with a first down pass to Dave Logan and barely got the ball off the second before crossing the line of scrimmage for another completion to Logan to cross midfield. The visitors continued to penetrate, but Jack Ham briefly halted the drive with his fourth sack of the season of ‘79. Sam Rutigliano’s team struck first with a gorgeous pass from Sipe to Ozzie Newsome despite being blalnketed near-perfectly by Mel Blount. The visitors were up 7-0 early. However, that wouldn’t last long as Larry Anderson would mishandle the ensuing Don- Cockroft kickoff and said kicker would add a 20-yard field goal when the Steelers wouldn’t allow Cleveland to advance after starting the drive on the Pittsburgh 2 with 7:15 remaining in the first. Terry Bradshaw would hook up with John Stallworth on Pittsburgh’s initial drive for No. 82 to surpass 1,000 yards once again, but Chuck Noll’s offense could only counter with a 45-yarder from the inconsistent rookie Matt Bahr. Late in the opening period, Sipe and Ozzie led another charge down field again against a bent, but not broken defense, and a Cockcroft field goal from 32-away made the score 13-3, Browns, just :07 seconds into the second.

Bradshaw got his offensive weapons involved again on the next drive. The likes of Franco Harris, Lynn Swan, and Rocky Bleier put the Steelers in field goal position, but Bahr could not convert his opportunity and the Browns took over. After the Steel Curtain got the ball back in the hands of the offense again, No. 12 in home black heaved a beauty to Bennie Cunningham in the back of the end zone, but the tight end could not hang on to it. Luckily for Steeler Nation, Bahr was successfull this time for 34 yards to make the scoreboard read 13-6. The Browns and Steelers would trade touchdowns late in the half. Sipe’s 16-yard heave to Logan had to be snatched away by cornerback Ron Johnson. Then, Franco did most of the heavy lifting on a 77-yard drive and caught a scoring ball from Bradshaw seconds before intermission where Cleveland led 20-13.

In the second half, the Steelers took the kickoff and were on the move again. The drive failed, but it did include an overthrow that caused Swann to take an actual flying leap over a parked car in the end zone. Sipe broke his tools out again and slung it all over the place to the likes of Logan, Newsome and Hill. Grant Hill’s father caught at 3-yard pass from Sipe and rolled into the touchdown zone for a seemingly insurmountable 27-13 lead late in the third. But Bradshaw would not wither, and led the Steelers on an 89-yard drive that was capped off with a Franco plunge to inch the Men of Steel closer at the beginning of the final quarter. A sack by L.C. Greenwood forced a Browns’ punt, but with a chance to drive for the tie, Franco fumbled for the Steelers’ league-leading 44th turnover of the season at his own 42. The Steel Curtain defense harrassed Sipe as Jack Ham sacked Sipe. There was still enough positive field position to allow Don Cockroft to extend the lead with a 40-yard field goal with only 9:44 left on the clock. It looked like Franco had fumbled again with the Browns recovering, but the ground caused the presumed gaffe and the play was whistled dead. It looked like the Steelers would score soon after that with Randy Grossman catching a pass on the 1, but a sack forced the Steelers to work their way back to the end zone. They did, and Franco bowled in from the 1 with 4:37 left in the game and the black and gold within 3, 30-27.

The Browns weren’t able to run out the clock to secure victory though as the Steel Curtainn came down with their fourth sack of the game (Dwight White) and their fifth (Steve Furness and L.C. Greenwood). In the final seconds, the Steelers inside the 5, but didn’t have enough time to get the win, so they tied it up with a Matt Bahr 21-yard field goal to send the game into overtime. Cleveland won the toss and Sipe had a huge run to get into field goal range, but a Jack Lambert sack set the Browns back and into a passing situation where Mel Blount intercepted a pass to Newsome on the 1. A brilliant drive by Bradshaw ended in an interception by Ron Bolton on the Cleveland 11, when the Steelers were in field goal range. Luckily for the Steelers, L.C. Greenwood’s fourth sack of Sipe in the game caused a punt and this time Bradshaw drove the team into Bahr’s range with :13 seconds left and the inconsistent rookie came through with a 37-yarder and the win, 33-30 in overtime.

The Steelers piled up 606 yards of offense and everybody seemed to contribute. Franco scored three times and led the team in both rushing and receiving, with 151 yards on the ground and catching 11 passes for 81 yards. Bradshaw set career highs for attempts, completions and yardage going 30/44 for 364 yards. The Blonde Bomber also ran for 43 yards. On the defensive side of the ball, the secondary gave up 333 yards passing, including 135 by Dave Logan. But the Steel Curtain came down on Browns rushers and only allowed 62 yards and came up big with seven sacks and the big Blount pick. The Steelers remained in the AFC Central race with Houston, that would end with the Steelers victorious in the AFC Championship over Bum Phillips and the Oilers. They would then win their fourth Super Bowl two weeks later. atop the division. As for the Browns, they were eliminated from playoff contention with the loss.

September 10, 1989 – Browns 51, Steelers 0

Sure, the Steelers were expected to struggle after going 5-11 in 1988, but the drubbing that they received on their own turf against a bitter rival didn’t seem possible. The interesting thing about this game was that the Browns offense didn’t have any spectacular performances on this day. Bernie Kosar went 16/26 for 270 yards, but no touchdown passes to his credit. Leading rusher Mike Oliphant had 21 of his 48 yards on the last score of the game, Tim Manoa only gained 20 yards, but scored twice and Matt Bahr, ten years after being drafted by Pittsburgh, kicked three field goals. It was the Browns defense and the inept Steelers offense that was the true story. Bubbly Brister only completed 10 of his 24 pass attempts for a paltry 84 yards, with no scoring passes and three interceptions, two by Mark Harper. David Grayson, to go along with his fumble return for a touchdown in the first quarter, delivered a pick-six for 14 yards in the third. Clay Matthews also returned a fumble for a score to kick off the scoring early on in the first. All in all, the Browns’ defense forced eight turnovers and sacked Brister six times, with Carl “Big Daddy“ Hairston getting a pair. The loss became and remains the worst loss in the Steelers’ history. ‘’It was the worst I’ve ever seen as a coach,’’ said Chuck Noll of the Steelers to reporters. The next week the Steelers endured a 41-10 beating in Cincy. It’s astonishing to believe that this 1989 made it to the divisional round of the playoffs that season.

January 7, 1995 – Steelers 29, Browns 9 (1994 AFC Divisional Game)

What if I told you that there was a time when the Steelers defeated a Bill Belichick-led team in a playoff game? It actually occurred when two long-time rivals would gather to move forward to the AFC Championship Game. Both teams were there because of their ferocious defenses with the Steelers ranked No. 1 in the league and the Browns who allowed the least points in the NFL and featured former Super Bowl Champion standouts in Pepper Johnson and Carl Banks. Cleveland was 0-2 against Pittsburgh in 1994, but were hot coming in to the Steel City.

The Browns took the opening kick and looked to be driving into Steelers territory, bur Derrick Alexander dropped two first down passes from Vinny Testeverde on the drive. Following that, Neil O’Donnell leaned on the legs of Barry Foster and spread the ball around to get the Steelers into Gary Anderson’s range for a 3-0 lead after draining 7 minutes and 20 seconds off of the clock. The Steelers would get the ball back after a three-and-out and a shank by Browns punter Tom Tupa. With another sustained drive, Bill Cowher’s team drove down to the 2 where Eric Green hauled-in a pass for the touchdown and a 10-0 lead. Then after another short Tupa punt, the Steelers drove down the field again for a John L. Williams burst of 26 yards and a 17-0 advantage with 9:03 left in the half. Matt Stover finally got the Browns on the board with a 22-yard field goal after the Steelers defense halted a Browns drive that got all the way down to the Steelers 5. From there, defenses stiffened and the turnovers began with Testeverde getting intercepted by Darren Perry and an Ernie Mills fumble recovered by the Browns Eric Turner. When Tim McKyer thieved Vinny and took the ball deep into enemy territory with :36 seconds left on the clock, O’Donnell threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Yancey Thigpen for what looked to be an insurmountable 24-3 lead going into the locker room.

Just like the initial half, the Steelers scored first in the second half of play courtesy of a Gary Andersons field goal that traveled 40 yards through the uprights. Then it was a story of staunch defense and a whole bunch of punts. In the fourth, Testeverde went deep to Mark Carrier, who drew the pass interference penalty on Deon Figures. That call set up a 20-yard pass play from the Browns veteran QB to Keenan McCardell for the six. When the two-point conversion failed, the Browns tried an onside kick that didn’t work either. At 27-9, the Steelers were in control with 5:53 and we’re content staying on the ground to play the clock game. Cleveland would get the ball back one more time, but the unraveling of the Browns had already commenced. McCardell left his feet to level Chad Brown on a Testeverde completion to Michael Jackson. The unnecessary roughness play set the Brownies back to the own 13. The Steelers had no sacks on the day to that point, but then unloaded when Brentson Buckner and Kevin Greene combined on a takedown, and then Carnell finished off Vinny for a safety and a 29-9 lead to essentially end it for Pittsburgh’s third win over Cleveland of the 1994 season.

The Steelers controlled this game from the get-go, dominating their division rivals with a punishing run game featuring Barry Foster with 133 yards, Bam Morris getting 60 and John L.’s 43. Ron Ehrhardt’s offense piled up 424 yards and controlled the ball for 42:37, while the Blitzburgh Defense allowed a mere 186 total yards, and harrassed Testeverde (13 of 31, 144 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT) all day. The Steelers would go on to host San Diego in the AFC Championship, but we don’t need to address that now. For on this day, the Steeler Nation area code may have been primarily 412, but it felt more like Cloud 9.

September 29. 2002 – Steelers 16, Browns 13 (OT)

The “Ballad of Tommy Gun” was written on this day in Week 3 of the 2003 regular season in the 100th meeting in the history of the Steelers and Browns. The Steelers stumbled out of the gate going 0-2 to start the ‘03 campaign, a season removed from going 13-3 and playing in the AFC Championship Game.

First half highlights were few and far between in this game at Heinz Field for both teams. Phil Dawson’s two 28-yard field goals put the Browns up 6-0 in the first as the visitors couldn’t capitalize on red zone trips. For the Steelers, Aaron Smith’s sack and Joey Porter’s interception of Tim Couch were notable on defense as the unit played strong. However, the Steelers wasted two red zone trips as well, as a Jerome Bettis touchdown was reversed and Kordell Stewart fumbled on the goal line (recovered by Alan Faneca), and a 1st and Goal at the 8 only amounted to two Todd Peterson field goals (19, 27).

The third quarter was nothing more than a defensive showcase and a punt festival for both sides. But the Browns found the end zone on the very first play of the fourth when Couch hit Dennis Northcutt to get down to the 4, followed by Jamel White’s touchdown run to make the score 13-6. The Steelers had plenty of time though and marched all the way down to the 21 of Cleveland, but Robert Griffith intercepted Stewart’s pass to Hines Ward as the drive came to a screeching halt. With the Browns taking the ground with seventh straight running plays to milk the clock, Pittsburgh got the stop and forced a Chris Gardocki punt. With the ball at the 23 and down seven. Bill Cowher decided to make a drastic change and Tommy Maddox came off the bench to replace a struggling Kordell Stewart (15 of 25 for 123 yards and 1 INT) and immediately went 6 of 7 and threw a scoring pass of 10 yards to Plaxico Burress for the tie with 2:02 left on the clock. The Steelers defense force the punt on the next drive, but decided to play for overtime with the ball on their own 5.

Maddox’ first pass in overtime was intercepted is picked off by the Browns. But Phil Dawson’s 45-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Kimo von Oelhoffen’s helmet and the it was new life for the Steelers. Just when you thought that he couldn’t get even more crazy, Pittsburgh got in field-goal range and ushered out Peterson for the winning kick second down. The kick was blocked and bounced back to Peterson, who fumbled immediately but got lucky when John Fiala recovered the ball for the black and gold. Because the ball never crossed the line of scrimmage on the blocked field goal attempt and the play wasn’t on fourth down, the Steelers got the ball back. Peterson made good on his mulligan from 33-out to win a weird one and salvaging a playoff season for the Steel City 53.

January 5, 2003 – Steelers 36, Browns 33 (2002 AFC Wildcard Game)

After shutting down veteran Kelly Holcomb, starting in his fifth game as a pro, the Steelers took over on offense in their first drive with a 50-yard run by Amos Zeroue. But on the very next play, Tommy Maddox was intercepted by Daylon McCutcheon on the Browns 22. Holcomb struck quickly by hitting a streaking Kevin Johnson for 21. The rookie William Green took the ball in from the one for a 7-0 lead just 1:16 into the game. 16 seconds into the second quarter, future Steeler Chris Gardocki punted and Louis Sanders blind-sided Antwaan Randle-El, forcing him to cough it up at the Steelers 32. On the very next play, Dennis Northcutt beat Hank Poteat for the touchdown. 14-0 Cleveland. Poteat was playing for starter Chad Scott, who was out with an injured hand. After a punt, Randle El, who Cowher told that he “owed him one” after the turnover, paid his debt quickly by going down the right sideline for a 66-yard TD, the first ever scoring punt return in the playoffs in Pittsburgh history. 14-7 Browns. Towards the end of the first half the Browns drove down the field to the Steeler one. But Holcomb get sacked by Joey Porter for a 15-yard loss. After a 31-yarder by Phil Dawson to widen the Cleveland lead, Jeff Reed lined up for a 46-yarder to tighten up the game, but he missed to end the half. 17-7 Brownies.

To start the third, the Steelers’ Tom Rouen punted to Northcutt, who returned the ball 59 yards to the Steelers 15. Three plays later, Northcutt’s second touchdown of the day made the score 24-7. But safety Mike Logan owed Cowher one too. After getting nailed for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Holcomb to extend a drive, Logan intercepted the setting up Maddox to hit a balletic Plaxico Burress for the six-yard score. After a Browns drive down to the Steeler seven stalled, the Browns settled for 24-yard Dawson field goal to extend the lead. In a nervous moment for Pittsburgh, Randle El caught his third pass of the drive and fumbled on the two-yard line and it looked like the Browns had recovered. However the call was reversed on the field when No. 82 was ruled down by contact. Moments later with 12:28 left in the fourth, Maddox had another ball tipped at the line of scrimmage by Dwayne Rudd, but he had enough on it to find Jerame Tuman in the back of the Endzone for the touchdown. With 10:17 to play, the Browns extended their lead when the red-hot Holcomb threw another touchdown pass, this time to André Davis from 22 out. The Browns went for two, but Holcomb’s pass to Quincy Morgan was well-defended by Deshea Townsend. 33-21 Cleveland. However, the Steelers get the ball back at their own 23 and frantically moved down the white-speckled Heinz Field turf. A couple of minutes later, Maddox threw incomplete on third down, but Robert Griffith hit Hines Ward helmet-to-helmet and was penalized. It was the third first-down due to penalties on the drive. 33-28 Cleveland. Then Maddox threw into traffic on the goal line on third and goal from the five, but Hines Ward came up with the clutch grab for the touchdown. After a quick three-and-out the Steelers got the ball back 46 ticks later, just inside their own 40 after a punt< where Tommy Gun (30-48 for 367 yards and 3 TDs) drove the Steelers down the field and with 54 seconds remaining, Chris Fuamatu-Ma’afala took the ball in from the three for a 34-33 lead. The 2PC attempt was interesting as Hines Ward lined up at QB, but Randle El took the direct snap, rolled right and found Tuman for a 36-33 lead. The Steelers played over 59 minutes of football before finally taking your first lead of the game. Holcomb (26/43 for 429 yards and 3 scores) only got his offense down to the Steeler 30 as time expired, denying Dawson a chance at a tie. The Steelers won one of the most exciting games in their history and the remaining fans, that didn’t prematurely exit, rejoiced.

January 10, 2021 – Browns 48, Steelers 37 (2020 AFC Wildcard Game)

This one is too brutal to write too much about. Just know that the Steelers surrendered the lead for good on the game’s very first play, when a Maurkice Pouncey snap sailed over a Ben Roethlisberger’s and ended up in the end zone with Karl Joseph’s recovery making the score 7-0. Mike Tomlin’s black and gold found themselves down 28-0 before scoring their first points and 35-10 at the half. Five turnovers, including four interceptions thrown by Big Ben (47/68 for 501 yards, 4 TDs and 4 INTs) doomed the Steelers. A furious comeback was never close to enough, but Chase Claypool pulled down two fourth quarter touchdown passes. What makes this game harder to stomach was Browns’ Head Coach Kevin Stefanski in quarantine due to Covid-19. A season that started out promising at 11-0, ended in drastic debauchery.

January 3, 2022 – Steelers 26, Browns 14

Sure, the storyline for the Monday Night Football matchup between division rivals on the penultimate week of the 2021 NFL Season could have been the Cleveland Browns playing for whatever it is that they play for after having already been eliminated the day before and the Pittsburgh Steelers needing to win their final two games and get a miracle to gain admission to the playoffs. While winning was indeed crucial, that wasn’t what was on everyone’s mind that chilly Pennsylvania evening. No, all eyes were on Ben Roethlisberger as he took to Heinz Field one final time in his brilliant 18-year career with his retirement beckoning.

The first quarter was not must-see television as the only highlights were a tradeoff of turnovers-on-downs by both teams, and T.J. Watt, with a pass defense and a sack of Baker Mayfield. In the second, viewers got to see hijinks as Jadaveon Clowney negated a Steelers’ field goal attempt with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty when he threw Chase Claypool’s shoe down the field. This act of idiocy set up a Roethlisberger to Diontae Johnson scoring toss for the first touchdown of the game and a 7-0 Steelers lead with 10:39 left in the first half. A Mayfield interception nabbed by Akhello Witherspoon, T.J. Watt’s second sack of the night, and a Chris Boswell field goal took us to intermission at a score of 10-zip in the Steelers favor.

On the opening drive of the second half, more sacks ensued. This time it was Cam Heyward who took Baker down to force a punt. Pittsburgh’s offense was reminiscent of the good old days with Najee Harris pounding the rock and the Cleveland defense with violent stiff arms, but the offense settled for another Chris Boswell field goal to make the the score 13-0 with 8:20 left in the third quarter. Mayfield didn’t quit though, and after Nick Chubb runs, and a long pass play to Donovan Peoples-Jones, David Njoku was located by No. 6 for the touchdown to make the score 13-7 with :56 seconds remaining in the third.

In the fourth, Najee Harris continued to pound the Browns into submission. Right outside of field goal range, the Steelers’ offensive effort stalled, and the black-and-gold settled for a Boswell field goal, this one from 50 yards away. The kick made the score 16-7 and made the game a two-score game with 9:45 left in regulation. The Steelers’ defense forced a three-and-out, and when Dustin Colquitt had to punt out of the back of the end zone it gave the Pittsburgh offense tremendous field position at the Cleveland 42 to enable Boswell to kick his fourth field goal of the game from 48-yards away to make the score 19-7 with 5:48 left in regulation.

The defense continued their domination as T.J. Watt got his fourth sack of the game, and Alex Highsmith getting his second on back-to-back plays. It resulted in a 4th and 19 and the game looked to be in the bag, but Joe Haden was flagged for defensive pass interference and the Cam Sutton was too. With the ball on the Steelers 1, Baker Mayfield hit Harrison Bryant for a touchdown to tighten the score at 19-14 with 1:10 left in the 4th quarter. The Steelers recovered the onside kick attempt, and it was two straight Najee Harris runs which set up a 3rd and 1 with the Browns out of timeouts. No. 22 found a lane and he burst through and raced to glory to wrap up the game at 26-14. The Steelers kept their playoff hopes alive, but the entire stadium stayed and stared to celebrate the end of a magnificent era as Ben and his family thanked the crowd with a curtain call.